Neymar appeared in a short video posted by the club on X (Twitter), in which he says: “I am Hilali.”
Al-Hilal Saudi Football Club announced, on Tuesday, its contract with the Brazilian star Neymar from Paris Saint-Germain.
Announcement
After six varying years in Paris Saint-Germain, the Brazilian star, Neymar, put an end to his Parisian adventure by moving to the Saudi club Al-Hilal, as the latter announced on Tuesday.
Neymar joined a group of other stars in the Saudi League, such as Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo and Senegalese Sadio Mane (Al-Nasr), Frenchmen Karim Benzema and Ngolo Kante (Al-Ittihad) and Algerian Riyad Mahrez (Al-Ahly). He will also join other stars in his new team, such as Portuguese Robin Neves, Serbian Sergey Milinkovic-Savic, Senegalese Khalido Coulibaly and his compatriot Malcolm.
And Al-Hilal published, through his official account on the “X” website (formerly Twitter), a video showing Neymar in the blue Al-Hilal shirt, saying in English, “I am here in Saudi Arabia … I am Hilal.”
Neymar’s divorce with Saint-Germain is complete
Neymar arrived in Saint-Germain in 2017 from Barcelona, Spain, for a world record amount at the time of 220 million euros, but the Brazilian star later turned into an unwanted player in Paris, during seasons marked by a series of injuries and endless adventures.
After he was pushed out, Neymar agreed to the golden offer from the oil-rich Gulf kingdom, where he would receive a huge salary in Al Hilal estimated, according to a source in Saudi Arabia, at “100 million euros ($109 million) per year for the player, and the same for Paris Saint-Germain,” referring to That the player was negotiating a two-year contract instead of a three-year one.
Please Mbappe
Neymar’s position (31 years) cannot be completely separated from that of Kylian Mbappe, who made the Brazilian’s departure one of the conditions for renewing his contract in 2022. The announcement of Neymar’s signing in Saudi Arabia coincided with the 2018 World Cup champion’s approach to concluding a contract renewal deal with The French capital club, after intense negotiations and speculation about his transfer to Spanish Real Madrid.
Neymar faced great challenges during his time in Paris, and it can even be described as a “big mess.”
After his great role in the famous “Remontada” for Barcelona against Saint-Germain in the second leg of the 16th round of the Champions League in 2017, the Qatari-owned French club believed that it had concluded a resounding deal by contracting with the golden boy Mbappe and the star of the Brazilian national team, Neymar.
However, the former Santos player, who was one of the ribs of the “famous trio” in Catalonia with Argentine Lionel Messi and Uruguayan Luis Soares, with whom he won the Champions League in 2015, contradicted the high expectations that were pinned on him.
With 118 goals and 70 assists in 173 games in all competitions, his digital record was not weak, but he was unable to lead Saint-Germain to the Champions League title for the first time in its history, after Bayern Munich shattered his dreams in the final in 2020.
The countdown to departure
That defeat was “the straw that broke the camel’s back”, as his relationship with the Parisian public deteriorated. And since 2019, just two years after his arrival, Neymar wanted to leave his club to return to Barcelona, but Qatari officials refused the matter before extending his contract until 2027.
Announcement
The situation differed dramatically last year, with the rise of Mbappe’s shares within the club’s corridors and the appointment of Luis Campos as a “football advisor”. At that time, Saint-Germain opened the door to his departure, which was not achieved due to the player’s exorbitant salary, estimated at 30 million euros annually.
However, the new injury suffered by the Brazilian in the ankle, and then the surgery he underwent last March, reinforced Paris’s desire to abandon the Seleçao striker, despite his excellent performances in the first half of last season.
After another very disappointing year in which Saint-Germain narrowly retained the French League title for the eleventh time, the latter showed determination to inject new blood into its ranks with the departure of Messi and Spaniard Sergio Ramos, and the imminent departure of Italian Marco Verratti, who is also likely to join Al Hilal Saudi Arabia.
During the recent period, Neymar faced widespread objections from Ultras fans who demonstrated in front of his house last May. To be the last spark that led to the final divorce between the two parties.
2023-08-15 16:44:41
#Hilal #Saudi #Arabia #announces #official #contract #Brazilian #Neymar
